‘Ten Commandments’ of Communicating Physics

Imperial College physicist Jess Wade has done of a brilliant job of graphically rendering Graham’s Ten Commandments, which he presented yesterday at the Institute of Physics’ headquarters in London. Here, Jess tells the story of how she came into science, and what led her to share her deep interest in it through her other passion, art.

After Jess posted her graphic on Twitter, several people commented that the commandments could also be applied to other branches of sciences. ‘Fair point’, Graham says, ‘though I think the communication of physics has special challenges, not least all the abstractions that are central to it.’

Graham was the invited speaker and judge of the IOP’s Early Career Physics Communicator Award, won by Niamh Kavanagh. Graham says: ‘Niamh gave a superb presentation of her work, demonstrating her huge commitment to the art of engaging wide audiences with physics. The other three finalists – Euan Allen, Helen Cammack and Chantal Nobs – were also terrific and would also have been worthy winners.